


Falling into the Abyss

by karenninaaa



Series: Family Ties [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: A.N.G.S.T, Angst, Biological Dad AU, Dad!Tony, Did I say angst?, Father and Son Relationship, Gen, Iron Dad, Peter needs comfort, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Trauma, mentions of nightmare, spiderson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-25
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2019-06-16 02:18:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15426870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karenninaaa/pseuds/karenninaaa
Summary: Peter's past started to haunt him all of a sudden. Before he knew it, he wasn't only battling criminals and muggers on the street but also the crippling nightmares and trauma about the night his uncle Ben died.





	Falling into the Abyss

**Author's Note:**

> Set in the universe where Tony Stark is Peter's biological dad. Harley Keener, Ned Leeds and Peter Parker were the three musketeers who were attending the Stark Industries internship.
> 
> Never-ending thanks to gammathetaalpha for making the chapter cooler! She's awesome. :D
> 
> Enjoy!

“Dad?”

“Hmm?” Tony looked up from his arm towards his son Peter, who was sitting in a rolling chair on the other side of the table Tony was standing by. Tony was wearing a gauntlet around his hand made of nanites. He flexed his left hand and it rippled, shifting from a gauntlet, to a wristwatch, and back.

They were lounging in the lab one afternoon. Tony was testing out his new prototype armor made of nanotech while Peter was supposedly doing his homework. A thought had crossed his mind and interrupted his work.

“Can I ask a question?”

“Shoot.” Tony raised his hand, now covered in gauntlet, and fired at his practice target fifteen feet away. He hit the target dead center. The sound of the blast resonated around the lab.

“What is your biggest fear?”

The second time Tony fired, he missed the target entirely.

Tony glanced back at Peter, who was waiting for his answer. He put down his arm.

“What’s with the question?” Tony raised an eyebrow at him.

Pete shrugged. “N-nothing, I was just curious. You don’t have to answer the question if you don’t want to. I was just wondering what could scare Iron Man away, t-that’s all. . .”

“If I told you, you’re not going to use it to blackmail me?”

Peter straightened up. “Hey, I’m not that mean.”

“I know.” Tony waved his hand. The gauntlet on his hand turned into a wristwatch. He sat on the edge of the table. “I was just kidding. I know you’re not the type to do something like that.”

“S-so what is it?”

 “Pepper’s look of doom. You know that look, when her eyes narrow into slits and there’s this blank look on her face. It’s a big red alert for me, that I should start saying sorry for whatever I did that pissed her off big time. I know if I don’t, I’ll probably end up sleeping on the couch for the night.” Tony’s lips quirked up at Peter.

“Mom is really scary when she has that kind of expression,” Peter agreed thoughtfully.

Peter knew his dad was lying. He wasn’t surprised either that Tony didn’t tell him the truth. Harley had warned him about avoiding that topic, after all. Why Peter had asked him in the first place was beyond him. Maybe it was because, after learning about _it_ , Peter just wanted to do something to show his dad that he was there for him. Maybe taking a direct and straight to the point approach to the subject was the wrong way to do it.

Peter thought he understood why his dad had lied about it. After all, why would you want to relive something that you had been trying to lock and shove away somewhere deep, deep, deep down in the abyss you had created for yourself?

Maybe they would talk about it again someday, when his dad was ready, or maybe not at all. But definitely, today wasn’t the day Tony would let the walls crumble down and give his son a glimpse of the chaos building within him.

Because Peter knew what it was like to have his own little abyss, because he had his own abyss too. He knew what it was like to not talk about things you’ve been trying to avoid because you don’t want to fall off a cliff into black, devouring nightmares. Peter knew what it felt like to reach the bottom of the cliff and hit the cold water of fear, to be sucked deep down into the dark, rendering you paralyzed.

And sometimes, he would fall in it unknowingly, when he put himself in a situation that would remind him of the bitter past, so bitter that it would leave the taste of bile on his tongue.

“Woah, easy there, bud,” Spider-Man said to the mugger standing three feet away from him.

The mugger pointed a gun at the head of a boy, probably Peter’s age, who was trying his best not to whimper out loud and wet his pants. Spider-Man had arrived just in time to spot a mugger trying to rob the boy in a dark alley one night.

“Why don’t you just put the gun down and let’s talk this through. That way, no one will get hurt and you don’t have to go to jail for heavier offenses. I promise you heavier offenses mean a longer stay behind bars,” Spider-Man tried to reason. The lamppost behind him was blinking on and off, offering an eerie glimpse every few seconds of the wide-eyed boy in front of him.

“I need money.” The mugger gritted his teeth, tightening his hold to the gun and to the kid.

“We’ll settle that after you let the boy go.”

“No.”

The lamppost light blinked on and in that second, Spider-Man saw two different expressions, the mugger’s manic glare and the boy’s changed look.

The boy’s former fear was replaced by determination.

It reminded Peter of a different face, older, more familiar. The face of someone who had given the same determined look while a gun was pointed at him.

_Get out of here, Pete!_

After a very long time, his last memories of his Uncle Ben resurfaced.

That old memory was a wound embedded deep within his chest, and a scar that would suddenly sting from time to time. That’s why for Peter, that memory rising to the surface was like shrapnel being plucked out of his skin. It physically hurt. It left him paralyzed and breathless for a moment.

And in that moment also, the boy decided to take action. He tried to knock the barrel away from his head. He viciously bit the mugger’s forearm.

The mugger yelped in surprise. The sound of the gun firing in the air jolted Spider-Man back to reality. The mugger lost his grip on the boy and the boy almost got away from him, except that the mugger managed to take hold the back collar of the boy’s shirt. He raised his gun with his other hand and pointed it at the boy’s head.

It was an opportunity for Spider-Man.

Spider-Man raised his arm. “Nope, you are so not going to point that thing at anyone anymore.” Web shot out from his webshooter and snatched the gun out of the mugger’s hand. The gun flew and was firmly webbed to the nearby wall. The mugger froze in surprise for a second. The boy managed to successfully get away from him the second time around.

Soon, Spider-Man and the boy, whose name was Austin, were standing on the edge of the roof watching the mugger be escorted by the cops towards the police car parked nearby.

“Why did you do that?” Spider-Man asked Austin. “You could have gotten hurt, worse, killed because of what you did.”

“For once, I just wanted to stand up to a bully.” Austin was watching the police cars drive off down the road. “And you were there. I knew you were going to save me.” This time when Austin looked at Spider-Man, he was smiling earnestly. “Thank you.”

“Yeah, no problem dude. Just stay away from dark alleys from now on.” Spider-Man clapped him on the back.

“May, I’m home!” Peter shouted as he entered their apartment after patrol. Upon entering, the smell of spaghetti sauce hit him in the nose.

“In the kitchen, Pete,” May called.

Peter dropped his backpack on the couch and went for the kitchen. There, he saw his aunt in apron and in front of the stove, stirring the sauce in the casserole. She turned off the stove.

“I thought about cooking for a change.” May beamed at him. “But I think I kinda burnt the meatballs, and the pasta was overcooked . . .”

So, that was the burnt smell Peter had sniffed.

Instead of answering, Peter went behind his aunt and hugged her. May paused in surprise on the sudden action. Her face softened.

“What’s with this, suddenly? Did you lose another backpack?” May asked playfully.

Peter chuckled and rested his chin on her shoulder. He closed his eyes briefly, his Uncle Ben’s face flashing in his head. “No, my backpack is safe on the couch, I just felt like hugging you. Love you Aunt May.”

“Oh, I love you too, Pete,” May answered tenderly. “Now, as much as I love having moments like this, wash up. You smell.”

“Yeah.”

“And hurry, before the spaghetti gets cold.”

 

_“Get out of here, Pete!” Uncle Ben shouted as he and the mugger wrestled for the gun._

_Meanwhile, Pete was frozen in his place, watching wide-eyed as the gun went off. There was a loud bang in the air. Then his uncle dropped to the ground._

_“No!”_

“Peter, wake up!”

Peter’s eyes snapped open. He was sweating buckets and his hands were clammy. His lamp had been turned on and May was sitting on the edge of his bed, grasping both of his arms.

“You had a nightmare,” May said softly.

Peter bolted up on his bed and hugged his aunt. His heart was thundering in his ribcage and he was shaking.

“Sssh, it’s all right. It’s over now.” May whispered tenderly, as she rubbed Peter’s back comfortingly.

As Peter closed his eyes and rested his cheek on his aunt May’s shoulder, the image of his uncle’s lifeless eyes staring at him lingered in the back of his head.

 

“I’m worried about Peter.” May walked in circles. Tony and Pepper were sitting next to each other on the couch. May had decided to pay a visit at the Avengers Compound to talk to Tony about Peter’s current situation.

“Peter has been having nightmares recently,” May continued. “He doesn’t want to talk about it, but he looks so down. He just keeps on saying that he’s tired and all, but I know that’s not the case.”

“Then what’s the case?” Tony stood up.

May turned and looked at Tony. “I think his nightmares about his uncle came back. He keeps on staring at his uncle Ben’s photograph and he even asked me about my late husband the other day. It’s just that... when he became Spider-Man, and met you and realized that you're his dad, he was so happy for awhile. So many things had happened that I thought he had moved on from it by now.”

“And by _it,_ you mean he had already moved on from his uncle’s death?” Tony inquired.

“That and from the trauma that Ben’s death caused for the two of us, especially for Peter,” May answered. She exhaled. “Tony, Peter witnessed Ben getting shot by a mugger. He was there when it happened. It’s been really hard for the two of us, but I think it was harder for him when he saw what happened. It gave him nightmares for weeks and then… I don’t know.” She threw her hands in the air. “After some time, something shifted and he seemed so busy and the nightmares lessened. And then before we knew it, you were paying a visit to our apartment, and Ben was just a distant memory for us.”

Tony took a deep breath as he glanced back at Pepper, who had stood up and walked towards May. The CEO gave May a comforting hug.

“You should talk to Peter.” Pepper looked at Tony. “You have the ability to make him talk about things.”

“That’s what I thought too, and that’s why I’m here,” May said. “That kid would freeze over first before he started to talk about the things that burden him.”

“Hey, I won’t make any promises, but I’ll try my best.” Tony raised his hands in surrender.

 

“Why does he look like he got robbed of a year’s supply of his favourite orange juice? He’s been so quiet that it’s getting creepy,” Harley whispered to Ned as he leaned forward. They were standing side by side, observing Peter from afar. He was sitting on his work desk at the Stark Industries lab. He was unscrewing the small machinery laid on his table.

“I honestly have no idea,” Ned admitted. “He won’t talk about it. He’s like that sometimes and then the next day, he’s bright as a sun again.”

“His next day is lasting quite long, the sun isn’t shining and there’s a dark cloud hanging over his head.” Harley crossed his arms. Then he noticed another intern who was walking across the room. He looked like a college student. He would have been fairly tall, but his back was hunched over and his head downcast. He had shaggy blond hair and blue eyes.

“And there’s another guy, who also has a dark cloud hanging over his head,” Harley continued, his gaze following the blond.

“Who? Brent?” Ned said. “Oh, I think he’s the guy whose project got turned down by Director Spencer. He was obviously bummed about it.”

Director William Spencer was the head of the Stark Industries Youth and Science Development program in which their internship was under.

“Really?” Harley looked at Ned in surprised. “Director Spencer rarely turns down our projects. Something must have been up with whatever that dude was working on. You know what his project was all about?”

“No idea.”

Harley looked at Brent with interest.

Later that afternoon, after their internship, Harley was jogging to catch up with Peter and Ned who were walking down the hall in Stark Industries. He spoke. “I figured it out.”

Peter and Ned turned to Harley.

“What?” Peter frowned. They reached the lobby.

“I figured out Brent’s secret project.” Harley reached them. All of them continued to walk through the lobby.

“Who is Brent?” Peter turned to Ned.

“Brent was the guy whose project got turned down by Director Spencer,” Ned explained.

“Director Spencer rarely rejects our projects. He even encouraged us to expand more on whatever we’re working on,” Peter stated.

“Exactly.” Harley snapped his fingers. “That’s why I got curious why Director Spencer would do such thing. And I discovered that this Brent dude was trying to replicate Tony’s BARF-” He suddenly snorted out a laugh. “Please tell Tony that he should really work on his tech’s name.”

“Dad’s therapeutic sunglasses?” Peter frowned.

“Yep. Apparently Brent got wind of Tony’s BARF, got interested in it, and started to replicate it. And maybe, Director Spencer doesn’t like pirating. That must be why it got rejected,” Harley said.

“But why would he try to replicate it?” Ned mused.

“Dunno. I haven’t figured out that much.” Harley shrugged again when they reached the main exit. “Anyway, want to hang out?” He looked at Peter. “My dear friend, Parker, we’ve noticed that you’ve been a little blue lately.” He put an arm around Peter’s shoulder. “And eating some sweets should boost your morale.”

Peter smiled thinly. “I’m fine, seriously, and I would love to go with you, but Dad wanted to see me, so I have to go ahead.”

“Are you in trouble?” Harley asked.

“That’s what I’ve been wondering. But I’m fairly certain that I haven’t done anything in a while that would give him migraine.”

“Right,” Harley said. “Well then, see you around.”

 

“Dad?” Peter called as he entered the lab. Backpack slung on his shoulder, he looked around.

“In here,” Tony answered from the corner. He was sitting on the table that was usually littered with a lot of metals, scraps, wires and machinery. But now, the table was clean and the usual scraps laid on the table had been replaced by two glasses of smoothies, cheeseburgers and fries.

Peter walked towards the table. He stopped at the table, frowning. Tony was munching a fry.

“Those are the smoothies of We Need to Talk.” Peter pointed at the glasses. “Am I in trouble?”

“No, I just suddenly had a crave for some smoothies. Sit down,” Tony said, dusting off the salt in his hands, courtesy of the French fries.

Peter put down his backpack on the floor, perplexed. He sat down opposite from his dad. “I really feel like something is going on in here. . .”

“Nothing much.” Tony shrugged. “I was just really hungry and I know you are too, so eat.”

Still, a little bit puzzled, Peter obliged, because his dad was right. He was famished. After a long day at school and the internship and having his gigantic metabolism, it was bound to happen.

“How’s school?” Tony asked, sipping on his smoothie.

Peter swallowed his bite of burger. “Good. Exam week is finally over, so hell is already over for us.”

Tony nodded in acknowledgement.

“Oh!” Peter suddenly exclaimed. “An intern was trying to replicate your BARF at the internship and Harley said you should really work on the tech’s name.”

“I’m still in the process, I’ll come up with a better name soon enough.” Tony scratched his head. “What was this intern’s deal and why was he trying to clone BARF?”

Peter shrugged, taking another bite. He wiped off the mustard on the corner of his mouth and licked his thumb. Tony pushed a box of napkins in his son’s direction. Peter swallowed and spoke, accepting a napkin. “Dunno, Harley just told us about it.”

“So how did his project go?” Tony folded his arms on the table.

“Actually, Director Spencer turned down his project . . .”

“What? Why?” The mechanic seemed suddenly repulsed by the idea of turning down the intern’s project. “I mean, I’m not against his project if he was copying BARF, it never was made official because of how costly it can be and he might be able to come up with better tech than mine. Who knows? Something that could be even more revolutionary?”

“We don’t know, maybe because he was just pirating your work . . . ?”

“What’s the pirate’s name?”

“Brent.” Peter sipped on his glass of smoothie.

Tony nodded once again. “You might want to slow down, or the food might end up in a wrong windpipe.”

“I’m good.”

Moments later, the plates were empty. Peter drained his glass and released a loud burp.

“Sailors would be proud,” Tony joked.

“Sorry.”

Tony waved his hand. “It’s fine.” Then he stared at his son for a moment. “So, how are you?”

Peter’s eyebrow knitted slightly, but he smiled nonetheless. “You asked like we haven’t seen each other for ages.”

“I’m serious.”

An even deeper frowned settled on Peter’s face when a sudden realization dawned on him. “May told you about my nightmares, didn’t she?”

“Peter-”

“Knew it. That’s why there were smoothies and cheeseburgers here. You just do that when you want to talk about something. Well, guess what? I don’t want to talk about it. Ever.” Peter stood up. “I feel tired. I’m gonna head up to my quarters now.”

“Son.”

Peter paused and looked back at his dad. “I swear Dad, it’s nothing-“

“But it still upsets you.”

“Of course it does. I just suddenly got reminded about how my uncle got shot right in front of my eyes when I thought I had gotten over it and was doing okay. I don’t know why this is suddenly coming back to me again, but I’m gonna be fine and I’m gonna get over it soon.” Peter exhaled.

“Maybe it would help if you talk about it-”

“You’re the one to talk.” Peter grumbled.

“My biggest fear was the aliens.”

Peter whipped his head around. He looked at his dad with wide eyes. His father never talked about his fears.

Tony exhaled. “That thing up there, beyond the exosphere. I feared that.”

Tony ran his fingers through his hair and sat down again. “I lied to you the last time you asked about fears. I’m not sure why I did that when I could have just straight up told you. Maybe it’s become habit to just keep it to myself. My brain is always in auto-pilot to avoid the topic, every time that _A_ word might possibly come up, let’s say in a conversation. Vivian —my shrink— said that the whole avoiding thing is my defence mechanism. Why I am telling you this now is because in my experience, sometimes keeping everything to yourself isn’t that great of an idea. You think you can handle it, but sometimes you just can’t, and at some point, it will break you. It could be me, your aunt or your mom or anyone you trust. Just don’t keep everything to yourself, whatever you’re going through, just because you think it’s nothing and it will be over soon.” He paused. “Go back to your quarters.”

With conflicting emotions bubbling in Peter’s chest, he chose to obey his dad by going back to his quarters. So he trudged out of the lab.

Later that night, Peter got woken up again by another nightmare. This time, it was Tony who was shaking him back to the reality. He hugged his dad, desperately.  For Peter, in that moment, that action was necessity because his dad was a safe haven that drove his fears away, even if for just a moment.

“Sometimes, it still hurts to think that Uncle Ben died just liked that,” Peter mumbled, still hugging his dad. “Sometimes, I think that if I’d just done something about it that night, Uncle Ben would still be here.”

Tony closed his eyes. Oh, how many times had he told the same thing to himself, fully aware of the consuming guilt clinging to his bones and the blood in his hands that would forever stain his soul?

But Peter was different. Tony knew it. He was better than him and there was this light in him that Tony could never have. So he spoke the truth that Peter needed to hear in that moment.

“It was and it will never be your fault,” Tony whispered softly, as he opened his eyes. “What happened that night could have gone in lots of different ways, and you will think of what those different kinds of scenarios would have been like. But you know, if there’s one thing I’m sure about, Ben would always choose that one way where he was able to save you, because he loved you and you are worth saving.”

Peter cried in Tony’s arms.

Tony didn’t let go of him once that night.

After a while, Pepper quietly went into Peter’s quarters. She tiptoed towards the bed, where the two most important boys in her life were sleeping soundly. Tony was half-sitting on the bed, with a pillow propped behind his back, while Peter was lying on his side, facing Tony. One of Tony’s arms were around his son protectively, while his other hand was holding Peter’s.

She pulled the blanket up further, tucking both of them in.  Both of their faces were illuminated by the lamp shade on the bedside table. This time, she knew it was going to be a peaceful night for the two of them. Pepper couldn’t explain it. Maybe it was a father and son thing, but there was something therapeutic in the bond they had, more than what Tony’s tech could do to aid him with his grief and nightmares.

It was a bond that heals and strengthens them, and she was glad that they had found each other and had given each other the comfort that only one of them could provide to another.

She headed out the room silently, like how she had come in.

 

Even after a week, Peter couldn’t say that he was completely fine. His nightmares were more haunting than usual. Every time he would dream about his uncle, the gunshot and his uncle’s lifeless eyes, he would find himself waking up with tears staining his eyes, but with every bad dream that would almost shatter him to the core, there was his aunt, who would whisper words of comfort, and there was his dad, who would bring hugs of relief, and there was his mom who would offer the best hot cocoa and the sweetness of it will just melt the bitterness and sadness that were budding in his young but strong heart. Ultimately, there were his friends who would cheer him up with their silliness and the laughter they shared would make the last night’s nightmare as if it hadn’t happened at all.

With that, Peter was not afraid to face another night and sleep, because every time he would wake up from a nightmare, there were people who were there for him.

 

“Crap, I think I forgot my phone,” Peter said, when they had already arrived in front of the Stark Industries front door, after another internship afternoon had ended for them. His backpack was slung in front of him. He rummaged through it for his phone. He looked up at Ned and Harley.

“Didn’t you put it in the small drawer attached to your desk? Ned asked.

“Yep, I think that’s where I put it.” Peter confirmed. “Hang on, I’m gonna get it back.”

“Well, make it fast,” Harley said. “My Pumpkin Spice latte is eagerly waiting for me.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be out in a sec,” Peter said and headed inside once again, while Harley and Ned waited for him outside.

“Aha, got you, you little sneak.” Peter mumbled, picking up his phone from the drawer, though his phone battery was already dead. He pocketed it and closed the drawer. He was alone in the area, since the internship time was over.

He turned around and was about to head out when he paused. Outside the lab, Peter saw through the ceiling to foot glass window a person whom he recognized as another intern, walking across the hall. He obviously didn’t plan on going home just yet. He was carrying a laptop and a small rectangular device.

It was Brent.

Peter had tried to talk him more than once, but the young intern was very closed off and aloof. Brent quickly made excuses and walked away every time Peter tried to start up a conversation.

Peter stopped by the door of the lab and followed Brent with his gaze. There was a strict policy about internship hours and Brent could be in trouble if he had plans of staying instead. Brent disappeared around the corner and Peter decided to follow him to warn him about the time.

After turning the corner, he saw Brent again, swiping his badge on the small screen beside the door nearby. Peter frowned when he realized that Brent had just entered the Simulation room. He wondered what on Earth exactly he was going to do inside the room, so he followed him once again.

He swiped his own badge on the screen. The screen lit up in green and there was a beep. The door slid open. Peter went inside.

The whole room was gray and there was nothing in it besides the small table in the corner. That’s where Brent was standing, turning on his laptop.

“Peter Parker,” Brent called out, even though his back was facing Peter and he was busy with his laptop. He inserted the cord of that small rectangular device towards the USB port of his laptop.

“Nice of you to join me here,” Brent continued, typing away on the keys. He punched in some code.

Unknown to Peter, the screen beside the door outside lit up and in bold red font; _Room Inaccessible_ was displayed on the screen.

“Now, no one’s going to disturb us for a while,” Brent whispered under his breath.

But of course, Peter’s enhanced senses picked up Brent’s words. “W-what did you mean by no one’s going to disturb us?”

Brent faced Peter. “You’ve got great hearing there, bud. I temporarily locked the door so no one could come in and rudely interrupt us. I hope you don’t mind that.”

Peter glanced back at the door and back at Brent. His Spidey senses weren’t tingling yet to alert him of anything dangerous and it should assure Peter that everything was all right. But why did he suddenly felt quite unnerved at being alone with Brent?

“Brent, internship time is over.” Peter fidgeted at the straps of his backpack. He tried to walk closer to him. “We could be in trouble by still being here.”

Brent half sat on the edge of the table. There were bags under his eyes and his light blue eyes looked dull and lifeless. He crossed his arms. “Don’t you want to see my secret project that got revoked in the end?”

“You already finished it?” Peter asked.

“After getting rejected halfway through the project, I had to sneak out some of Stark Industries supplies to complete it, which was difficult to do, but to answer your question, yes. It’s done.” Brent smiled thinly. “And I was about to test it. You’re just in time to see it.” He produced a small remote from his jeans pocket.

“I bet you already heard the rumor that I was trying to replicate your dad’s Binary Augmented Retro Framing. It’s true, but I made some enhancements and alterations,” Brent continued. Then he stepped aside so Peter could have a clear view of the table. “This small device here-” He pointed at the tech attached to his laptop. “-will control the sensory scanners in this room and scan the active or conscious human brain available here. Then using this device and the program I created, it will analyze the brain, locate your hippocampus and pick out your current most traumatic experience memory, or the thing that you fear the most. Then we’ll have the live feed here in 3D-“

“H-hold on,” Peter interrupted. “The BARF’s use was to _alter_ any traumatic experience. Is it not the same with your tech?”

“There’s this thing, a psychological technique called habituation,” Brent tried to explain. “Wherein a repeated exposure to a stimulus would decrease your response to it. For example, if you are afraid of spiders, then we’ll just have a 3D projection of spiders here until your freaking out about it lessens because you are repeatedly exposed to it. You got into a horrible car accident you want to forget? Instead of avoiding it, why not face it and that way it will help you overcome your fear. That’s where my alteration takes place. Instead of _altering_ , why can’t you just _confront_ the truth heads on?”

“Brent,” Peter exhaled. “I am not a psychological expert but I don’t think the whole confronting thing will work with some people and their respective situations.”

“And that’s the experiment, isn’t it?” Brent countered. “We are all budding scientists here. This experiment will help us gain knowledge, ways and ideas to become stronger than our own horrible thoughts.”

“And by that, you could also scar them permanently by letting them confront something that they’re not yet ready to face,” Peter said in a strained voice.

“That’s what you call risk,” Brent said.

“A very dangerous risk.”

“What’s risk without some danger?” Brent raised an eyebrow.

“Are you a sadist?!”

“Maybe, and to show that, I’m letting you get a glimpse of what my pain looks like,” Brent said. He pushed a button on the remote he was holding.

The room blacked out. For a second, Peter couldn’t see a thing. Suddenly, Peter was surrounded by fire. He yelped at the sudden projection. He knew that it wasn’t real, but it felt like one, when everything seemed so alive. He realized that he was in a middle of a living room, inside a burning house.

Then he heard a desperate cry. He turned around. There was a boy, around ten, who was sprawled on the floor. He had a familiar shaggy blond hair and blue eyes stained with tears. He was looking at something. Peter looked in the direction the boy was looking and saw a woman who was also crying, surrounded by rolling flames and trapped inside a bedroom.

A second later, the boy was being hauled up by a fireman. He was thrashing out of the fireman’s grip as he looked at the trapped woman.

“Help my mom please!” The boy screamed.

“Yes, we will help her but we need you to get out of here first!” The fireman answered.

“Mom!”

The boy got safely out of the burning house. But before the fireman could get back inside again, an explosion occurred in the house. The little boy stared wide eyed at the burning house.

Then everything halted, like what would happen in a movie when you suddenly pushed the pause button.

“Obviously,” A voice came. Brent was walking towards Peter out of nowhere. “My mom never made it out alive.”

Peter looked down beside him. Sprawled yet again on the ground was the boy, whose eyes were filled with terror and grief after losing someone so dear to him.

“My mom was the only ray of light in my life,” Brent said, his voice hollow. He was also staring at the boy. “And when that light was gone, it was all dark days for me, and I was left enduring the presence of my asshole dad, who did nothing but drown himself in alcohol to forget everything, and who also occasionally hit me when he felt like it.”

Peter glanced up at Brent. His face was contorted in anguish. For the first time, he noticed the scars on Brent’s forearm, since Brent was wearing sleeves that reached only to his elbows.

“I badly wanted him to see this.” Brent swallowed and his voice was thick. “It was easy for him to say _, ‘just move on,_ ’ when he wasn’t there to see what happened, when he was supposed to be with us instead of with his other woman. I wanted to hack into his brain and let him have a look at his own pain so he would know that it wasn’t easy to just forget and move on, that he was being a selfish asshole. I wanted him to be tortured by his own pain, just like how he tortured me for years.”

Peter stared at Brent. He saw a guy burning with hatred. His grief had turned into a sharp weapon and his pain had blinded him. In that moment, he realized why Director Spencer had turned down his project. But it wasn’t something that Brent needed to hear in that moment.

 “Brent, we could ask for help instead-”

“I don’t need help!” Brent suddenly shouted. “I was beyond asking for help when no one was around to lend me one when I needed it the most.”

Peter suddenly remembered his family and friends, the people who were always there for him and supported him with his own sadness and pain. And there was Brent, who had no one and who felt so alone, lonely and broken.

Brent exhaled, as if trying to calm himself. “Now, let’s stop talking about me and let’s start talking about you. I am curious, Parker, what’s that thing you’re trying to hide deep down in the corner?”

“No.” Peter backed away. But Brent was already pushing another button on his remote.

Before Peter knew it, everything around him was shifting and changing. He felt like he had been transported back in time, to the night that his uncle Ben died.

“Stop this, Brent.” Peter’s voice was shaking.

He was back in that dark alley. He was surrounded by towering buildings that seemed to threaten to swallow him whole. There was a lamppost far ahead that cast the alley in a dim glow.

He tried to remind himself that it was just a projection.

But he suddenly felt so small, and that familiar pain was starting to crawl through his veins, making his heart beat louder than normal.

Then he was face to face with his uncle and for one second, he almost believed that his uncle was alive again. There was another Peter produced by the projection from his own memory. They were walking back together after a trip to the convenience store. Peter couldn't take his eyes off the scene. It was bittersweet. Peter was a bit glad that he was able to see his uncle again, but there was sadness. He knew what was about to happen.

A guy in a hood was running in their direction. He collided with Ben. The guy clutched a woman’s purse to his chest. Not far off, cops sprinted in their direction.

Peter watched the realization dawn on Ben and younger Peter’s face. The man with the purse was a mugger, he was being chased by the cops, and he was trapped.

There was a look of desperation on the guy’s face. He was about to be cornered and he needed to escape. The guy looked in Peter’s direction and in that instant, Ben knew what was about to happen. The guy was going to use Peter as an escape goat.

Ben blocked the guy when he lunged at Peter and when he pulled out a gun. Ben and the guy wrestled for control of the gun.

“Get out of here, Pete!”

But Peter was frozen to his spot in shock. There was a loud bang. Everyone in the alley froze. Before Peter knew it, his uncle was falling to the ground. He found himself running towards him.

“No!”

Blood. Peter distinctly remembered the blood, it was everywhere, it was on his uncle’s chest, and it was on him. He was stained with it as he cradled his uncle’s head in his arms, crying out in agony. His uncle’s eyes were staring at him, but that familiar mischievous spark was gone. They were lifeless. Everything halted.

As the _real_ Peter watched his past unfold in front of him again, tears fell from his eyes.

He looked at Brent, wiping angrily at his tears. “Are you happy now? Is your curiousness satisfied?”

Brent suddenly looked guilty. “I-”

“From now on, I’m going to stop,” Peter found himself declaring. “I’m going to stop tormenting myself about the past that should be left behind. I know that past is part of me and it’s something that can’t be forgotten, but I will stop carrying it like a burden with me in the present and to my future. My dad said that my uncle would have been glad that I made it out alive. I bet your mom was too. She would be glad that you’re alive too. Maybe, just m-maybe you should try to focus on that.”

Brent was rooted to his spot, and then tears were also rolling down his cheeks. He was about to speak, when everything around them started to shift.

“W-what’s happening?” Peter looked around.

“I-I don’t know.” Brent stammered.

“You don’t know? You’re the one who made this!” Peter said.

Then Brent was pushing all the buttons on the remote in panic. “This isn’t working anymore. I think there’s a glitch. . .”

The shifting stopped. Nothing in the scene had changed. It was still from Peter’s past memory, it was the same dark alley and the mugger was still there, except that it wasn't Ben who was wrestling for the gun.

It was Tony Stark.

His dad.

“W-what the hell?” Peter shouted.

“Oh my god,” Brent said. “I can’t believe this.”

“What the hell was that?!” Peter demanded.

Brent swallowed. “I-I think, the program was adapting to the human consciousness. You overcame your traumatic experience with your uncle, now it’s trying to find another fear from you to project.”

“This is insane, cut it out-”

They were cut off by another bang. Peter’s head whipped at the direction of the sound. His dad was falling to the ground.

“DAD!”

“Peter, this isn’t real-”

But Peter was only focusing on the blood that was coming out of Tony’s chest. Peter's chest was suddenly constricting. He couldn’t breathe.

“W-what. . .” Peter staggered towards his dad.

“Peter, snap out of it!”

Before Peter could reach his dad, everything blacked out.

 

Peter slowly opened his eyes. Half-way opening them, he immediately winced from his bright surroundings.

“Pete . .”

Peter’s eyes snapped open at the voice. He looked around. He was lying on a bed. There was Tony Stark in a crisp dark blue suit and black dress shirt. He was staring down at him worriedly.

“Son, you okay . . .?”

Peter bolted upright from the bed and tackled his dad in a hug. “Oh my god, please tell me this is real now!”

“Woah, woah, calm there, Champ.” Tony was so close to falling off the bed from where he was sitting, with the amount of strength that Peter had, though he still managed to hold his ground. He glanced at the doctor who was standing close by, and who was ready to leap into action and examine Peter at a moment’s notice.

Peter pulled away. He still looked alarmed. So Tony gripped both of Peter’s arms and spoke. “Peter, look at me.”

Peter obliged, looking up wide eyed.

“This is very real.” Tony said firmly. “No one’s dying. I’m alive. Nightmare’s over.”

“Y-you saw . . .” Peter breathed.

“Yes. I went to the Simulation room,” Tony answered shortly.

Peter looked around. “W-where am I?”

“Still at the company and in the clinic,” Tony answered.

Peter gazed again at his dad and started to bombard him with questions. “W-what happened? Where’s Brent? How did you know? How are you here?”

“Let’s answer one question at a time. First, Brent said sorry for the trouble he caused you,” Tony said. “And Brent is being taken care of-”

“He’s not going to be in trouble, is he?” Peter asked worriedly.

“Nope, I assure that he isn't. He is going to get help that he should have had a long time ago. And luckily, I was in the neighbourhood just in time to find out that you were sticking yourself again in the trouble lane.”

Peter looked down. “Is Brent going to be okay?”

“He will be. Now, it’s time to worry about yourself. Are you okay? Do you feel weird or is there anything that hurts?”

Peter shook his head, looking at his dad. “I’m fine.”

Tony narrowed his eyes on him.

“Yes, I’m telling the truth, Dad.” Peter smiled a bit.

Tony breathed. “Okay, yeah, you’re smiling. That’s a good sign.”

After being checked again by the company doctor on Tony’s insistence, Peter and Tony found themselves heading out of Stark Industries. There was already a car in front with Happy inside, waiting for them. Tony recounted bits of what happened, that he had discovered both of them inside the Simulation room with the help of Harley and Ned, who had already gone home. Peter wanted to ask for more information, but his dad had told him that they were going to talk about it some other time and in the meantime, Peter needed to rest because of what he had been through. His dad was right. Peter felt like his bones were made of metal, they felt so heavy.

They were already inside the car going back to Peter’s apartment, when a thought occurred to the teen. He looked at his dad sitting beside him, busy with his phone.

“Dad, didn’t you see anything in the simulation room?” Peter asked.

“What?” Tony was still looking down at his phone. “Seeing myself, bleeding to death?”

“That’s my fear,” Peter said. “But what about your fear?”

“Oh that.” Tony put down his phone and glanced at his son. “I felt like I had a reunion with the Chitauri. They still look ugly.”

Peter stared at his dad. “T-that’s it?”

Tony frowned. “That’s what?”

“You are perfectly calm about this,” Peter said. “Harley told me about your anxiety about it.”

“You two are so ganging up on me now,” Tony said. “And what, you want your old man freaking out and having a hard time?”

“T-that’s not what I meant!” Peter immediately answered. “I don’t want you to have a hard time.”

Tony smiled at that as the car pulled over. He looked out the window. “Oh look, we’re here. I’m sure May is already waiting for you.”

“You don’t want to come inside?” Peter offered.

“Not this time, it’s already late and you need rest,” Tony answered, then smiled. “Good night Son.”

Peter smiled too. “Good night, Dad.” Peter climbed out of the car but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

Peter sighed, and looked ahead. His dad’s car was already a spot in the distance and soon disappeared around the corner. He went inside.

He was greeted by his worried aunt when he entered the apartment. Tony had already told May about what happened. It was like a pact between Tony and May. They wouldn’t keep anything secret related to Peter’s well-being, ever since May had discovered her nephew’s alter ego.

They sat on the couch as Peter reassured his aunt that he was okay.

“May, does it still hurt when you think about Uncle Ben?” Peter found himself asking.

May stared at him for a moment, and then she smiled. She put an arm around his nephew and Peter leaned into her. “I get pretty sad sometimes, but it doesn’t hurt because I know your uncle is happy now.” She leaned back and looked down at Peter. “What about you?”

Peter glanced up at her. “It doesn’t hurt as much as before.” And Peter realized that he was being honest with himself and speaking the truth to May. It wasn’t just some empty words he was saying to avoid talking about it further, and he wasn't running away from his feelings. Now, he could face it with peace in his heart. There was still an ache of pain, but it was bearable. It wouldn't leave him immobile anymore.

May nodded, believing him. “Pete, just don’t hesitate to tell me anything that bothers you, okay? I’m always here for you.”

Peter smiled earnestly. “Yeah. I know.”

May ruffled his hair. “Now, have you already eaten? Do you want to eat at our favourite Thai restaurant? We haven’t been there in a while.”

Peter pulled away from her when he remembered something that he had momentarily forgot about when he started comforting his aunt a while back. “Uh, May, can I borrow your phone first? My phone’s dead and I wanted to make call.”

“Sure, go ahead. I think I left it in my bedroom on the table,” May answered.

“Thanks May.” Peter stood up and went to his aunt’s room.

He entered the room and headed straight for the bedside table. There was a picture frame of May and Ben together on the table. He smiled at it as he picked up the phone. He immediately contacted his dad.

But the call went to voicemail.

Peter suddenly got nervous. Tony never missed a call, whether it was from him or from May, no matter what Tony was doing. He always answered. He tried dialling it again. He heard the same mechanical voice.

He tried Happy’s number instead and put the phone against his ear. He waited as it rang. He tapped his foot on the floor.

“Hello, May?” There came Happy’s voice.

“Hey, Happy, it’s me, Peter!” Peter answered.

“Oh, what happened?”

“Is Dad with you? I was trying to call him but he wasn’t answering.”

“Oh, that . . .” Happy trailed off

“What?” Peter’s voice was demanding.

“After we dropped you off and rounded the corner, he asked me to pull over, and then he ditched me, pulled his suit out of nowhere, and took off.”

“He’s freaking out, isn't he?” Peter asked in concern.

“Definitely. I tried to stop him, but he’s already a hundred feet in the air.”

“Do you know where he might be?”

“I have no idea kid. Can’t you track him or something?”

“Where are you? Can you pick me up from the apartment?”

“I’m on my way.”

“Yeah, okay, I’ll wait for you in front of the building.”

“Okay, bye.” Happy hung up.

Then Peter was running out of the room. He called “May, I’m heading out a bit.” He ran towards his own bedroom.

“What? Why?” May stood up from the couch and followed Peter to his bedroom. “Where are you going? Did something happen?”

Peter bent forward and open his drawer attached to his study table. He picked up his powerbank. “I need to go to Dad. I’m staying with him for the night.”

“Is he okay? What happened?” May frowned.

Holding the powerbank, Peter straightened up and faced his aunt. “I don’t know and I’ll explain later, but I really have to go. Happy is going to get me.”

“Okay, be careful.”

“Thanks May.” Peter kissed his aunt’s cheek and bolted out of the apartment.

When he made it outside, he waited for a moment. Then a car pulled over in front of him, with Happy driving. Peter climbed into the car.

“Where to?” Happy twisted in his seat to look at Peter.

“Uh, just drive for a bit.” Peter was turning on his phone, charged by the powerbank. “I’ll track him in a sec.”

Happy turned and manoeuvred the car towards the main road. Meanwhile, Peter was looking down at his phone and rapidly typing on it. Then there was a map on the phone’s screen with a blinking dot on it. He looked up at Happy. “D-dad’s at the compound.”

Happy floored it.

Peter activated his own AI, Karen, on his phone.

“Good evening, Peter.” Karen’s voice came through the phone.

“Karen, connect to Friday, please.”

“System connection failed.” Peter cursed mentally.

After half hour of drive and anxiousness, they reached the compound. Happy pulled over at the main entrance. Peter immediately climbed out and dashed inside before Happy could say anything.

Peter went for the elevator towards the lab, where the blinking dot was on his screen. The elevator dinged open and he was out in the hall, looking around.

“Friday?” He called out, running towards the door of the lab.

The AI wasn’t responding.

Peter punched in the code lock on the lab’s door and went inside.  He jogged around. It was eerily quiet inside. It felt like no one was around. He looked down at the phone. The dot that signalled his dad’s location was still blinking inside the lab.

“Dad?” He called. His nerves were on edge because of worry. He walked a little bit further.

Peter scanned the lab. He froze. His dad was sprawled on the floor by the shelf, not moving.

“DAD!”

 

_To be continued. . ._

 

**Author's Note:**

> I know, I'm a horrible person for leaving a cliffhanger like that. Please don't bite me.
> 
> You think nightmare's over, nope, Tony, you're up and next. Stay tuned for the next shot!
> 
> Thanks for reading! Tell me what you think! I love hearing from you guys!


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